Like other college students, seminarian Blase Gebes has a summer job. He was hired by the National Eucharistic Revival to accompany pilgrims on the Marian Route of the National Eucharistic Procession. On May 16, he reported to Crookston, Minnesota.

Gebes is part of an eight-person team, walking and riding with other pilgrims along a route that will take them to Indianapolis where the National Eucharistic Congress is being held, July 17-21. He was encouraged by his vocations director, Fr. Mark McCormick, to apply for the position. Gebes, whose home parish is St. Francis of Assisi in Sturgis, just finished his sophomore year at Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary in Winona, Minnesota.

“Father Mark offered me two summer options, either spending time here in the diocese at one of the parishes or applying for this position because he knew that they were looking for a seminarian. They accepted my application and so I’m very happy,” said Gebes.

He is accompanied by one other seminarian and six lay people. “I am one of the official members and they have a big 15-seater van with a tabernacle in it. It’s pulling a trailer and I think they have a couple of support vehicles. We’re going to travel to different churches,” he said. Their schedule varies a lot. Some days the pilgrims will only travel a mile and other days maybe 20 miles, depending on the number of stops at churches while carrying Jesus along the way.

“It is important for a seminarian to first and foremost spend time with Our Lord. Sometimes I get busy with school — I can be a ’Martha’ at times — a lot of things keeping me busy,” he said. “My procession job is to be with Jesus. My principal responsibility will be people spending time with Our Lord. That makes it all the better — this idea of service to others as they go along.” He said pilgrims will join the procession for a couple hours, a whole day or even weeks.

“I just think it’s a great time to focus and be with the Lord,” he said.

There is an interactive map on the diocesan website www.eucharistic pilgrimage.org/. It gives the stops along the way for the four Eucharistic processions.